Path 2

NY Scientology Chief: “I Smell Pussy”

May 28, 2008

When Rev. John Carmichael, president of the Church of Scientology of New York, came face-to-face with a small contingent of Anonymous protestors this past Monday, he didn’t engage them in a spiritual debate. Instead, he leaned into one member on a Times Square street and said, “Let me tell you this: I smell pussy.” Then, looking squarely at the Anon added, “You in particular.”

All caught on tape, Carmichael hits a breaking point with the handful of protestors at about 5:17 seconds into the Anon-edited clip, conveniently posted the same day on YouTube. Carmichael threatens the group, after yelling at an almost nose-to-nose distance with one Anon over disclosing his name. (With the Church’s documented history of assailing dissenters through its fair game policy, and with legal threats delivered to a couple of New York Anons already, protestors try to keep their identities guarded—hence the Anonymous.) He also implores them to “come out of the closet.”

Typically, New York Anons pop into the Times Square area—close to the Church’s 46th Street center—to conduct “flash raids” in between their larger monthly rallies. This particular visit took place on Memorial Day, the footage opening up with Anonymous members chalking up the sidewalk grade-school-style, warning passersby to skip the free “stress test” that the Church of Scientology offers to rope in potential members, and later taunting Rev. John Carmichael to his face (Take “your spaceship and go away!”). It also captures how adept the group has become at preventing Scientology officials from capturing their likenesses on film and later identifying them: using the ol’ celebrity-bodyguard trick of pointing a flashlight at the camera. Impressively crafty, but not to Rev. John Carmichael.